Chapter 7
I must have been dreaming.
I spent an amazing morning with Logan in bed doing the kinds of things I'd only read in Romance Novels.
Hot. Steamy.
And yes, I was aching the next day.
And loving every stinking minute of it.
I smiled to myself as I unlocked the barber shop door and mumbled under my breath.
"Every fucking minute."
Oh my lord, did I just say that?
Out loud?
"Fucking."
I turned around to look at the empty room, making sure I was alone.
Thank goodness I was.
Tucking my keys into the cross-body purse I always carried with me on workdays, I flicked on the light switch and smiled.
Close Cuts.
My barber shop.
Mine.
I'd just signed the contract with the previous owner of the shop, Mister Shackleford, a few days ago and I'd put up a few posters and brought in a few plants to change up the feeling of the shop from a spartan white and grey to something with color and warmth.
I didn't have the money to do much more and I was 'renting to own' as the paperwork said, so even if I had a bunch of money, it was all precious.
My first priority was getting people in the doors so I could cut their hair.
That wasn't going to be easy.
Sure some people had come in and after assurances from Old Mister Shackleford, they'd let me cut their hair for them. They said they'd come back.
And that was good, but I was 'new' and since Mister Shackleford had completely retired, he wasn't going to be in the shop to reassure people that I'd do a good job.
So, I had to do this on my own.
God knows anyone could get trimmers online.
So, I had to hope that people gave me a chance.
The phone rang on the desk, and I hurried across the room to answer it.
Mister Shackleford said that most of his customers would call in.
Not to make an appointment but to see if he was open.
He only came in a few days a week and some days, unless he knew that someone was coming in, he'd stay home.
I picked up the phone and tried to school my voice to sound like I was calm.
"Hellooo! Thanks for calling Close Cuts Barber Shop! How can I-"
CLICK
Uh...
I felt my shoulders sag.
And I leaned against the counter looking at the phone as if it was a crystal ball.
What had I done?
Too bright?
Too loud?
The phone rang again and I picked it up, biting into my bottom lip.
"Hello?"
The sound of the voice on the other end of the call was someone older. Male.
"Hello. Thanks for calling, this-"
"Is Benny there?"
"Benny?" I felt my forehead crease for a moment before it hit me.
Benny was Mister Shackleford!
"Oh, sorry, Mister Shac... Benny retired."
"Oh... Sorry."
"But I'vetakenovertheshop!"
I rushed out the words because I had a feeling the man was going to hang up on me.
"So... you cut hair?"
I let out a breath. "Yes. I can cut hair."
Breathe, Arlys, breathe!
"Can you cut men's hair?"
I nodded, smiling at the question.
"Yes, sir. I only cut men's hair actually. My dad is a lifelong Army man. I grew up cutting his hair and the hair of the men in his unit."
"Army?"
I almost laughed at the man's tone. "Yes, sir. But I can do more than just military styles. Why don't you come in when you can and I'll show you pictures of what I can do."
There was a definite hum on the other side of the call.
He was hesitating.
"I guess, I'll give you a try, even though I'm a Marine myself."
"Don't you worry, sir. I know what I'm doing."
"MmmHmm... I'll be the judge of that."
The call ended and I leaned against the counter.
He would be, but that's how it was going to be when making a name for myself.
I just had to hope it was a good name.
Opening the book on the counter where I was going to write down customer appointments, I picked up my pen and made a note.
Be Positive, I told myself.
Be Hopeful.
The bell above the front door jingled and I turned my head.
Three men in leather cuts walked in.
I only had eyes for the man who walked in first.
"Logan!"
He walked across the room, his eyes only on me.
That felt great.
He reached out his hands and set them on my shoulders and leaned in for a kiss.
I tipped my head back to get it.
Shameless?
Yeah.
For him.
"Hey, honey."
"Hey, Logan."
A snort and a loud cough erupted behind him.
When he lifted his head from our kiss, I narrowed my eyes.
"Don't listen to those two assholes, honey. They're single and don't know better."
Logan stepped back and draped his arm around my shoulders, holding me against his side. He waved his hand at the man on the left. "That's Savior and that," he gestured at the other man, "is Havoc."
I looked at the two men and tried not to feel like I was a tiny little mouse with a bunch of big cats staring down at me. Both were tall, muscled and inked.
I was smaller, probably looked like a colorful marshmallow in my big, roomy dress and my blonde hair curling around my face. "Hey, I'm-"
"Arlys." Savior spoke first. "We know. Thief here," he lifted his chin toward Logan, "told us to be on our best behavior or he'd kick our asses."
Havoc snorted a laugh. "He used more... interesting words, but he said we also had to watch our language."
"You don't have to do that around me, I'm just-"
I had to stop speaking because I felt like Logan had just squeezed the air out of my lungs.
"Honey. You're not just anything."
I felt him lean in and smiled when he kissed the top of my head.
"You're everything."
Oh. My. Heavens.
I felt like he'd just made some kind of big declaration in that moment.
Havoc sighed a little. "He's lost it."
Savior agreed, smiling. "He's done."
"I brought the guys here to see your barber shop."
She turned slightly to look up at him. "You brought them here?"
"Of course," he leaned in and gave me another kiss. This one on the lips and almost PG rated.
Almost.
"I want them to know you're here and open for business."
Savior lifted a hand and touched his head.
He wore his hair high and tight, a style she was used to.
"I don't have much in the way of hair."
I saw the tattoo on his right bicep. "You were a Ranger."
He looked at me surprised. "Is it written on my forehead?"
I tried not to smile too much. And I wasn't about to tell him that I saw the tattoo. It was faded, so most probably didn't see it.
I did because my dad was Army.
I'd grown up around markings like that.
"I can help you tidy it up when you need to. No need to pay me. I did more than my share of military haircuts over the years."
I felt Logan's hand move down from my shoulder to my waist where he gave me a playful little pinch.
I knew why he'd done it.
So I didn't even bother to pretend he was trying to be secretive about it. "Logan! Don't pinch me!"
"Honey."
He tried to pull me a few feet away and I knew why. He wanted to talk to me about my offer to Savior, but I wasn't going to bite.
"You can stop the 'Honey' thing right now."
Logan turned me toward him and leaned in to look into my eyes. "Honey," he winced when I lifted a brow at him, "Baby." He lowered his hands and touched my belly. "You have to make a living in the shop. You have to have customers to keep it open."
I sighed, because as much as I loved this man, I knew that we were going to have moments like this if we were together.
"I will, Logan. I promise you. But..." I opened both eyes and stared straight at him, "I have a way that I'm going to do things."
Savior cleared his throat and Logan turned to look at him with a look that promised pain.
I adjusted my hands on his sides and gave him another pinch.
His brows furrowing, he turned to look at me.
The expression on his face said 'Seriously?'
"What?" I looked right back at him remembering how we'd done this so many times back when we were just getting to know each other.
"You pinched me?"
"Pinched you?" "Ha!" I laughed out loud and then brought one hand in so I could poke him in the chest.
It was hard.
Like a flippin' wall!
"I can't pinch where there's no fat, Logan!"
He smiled.
"You didn't notice it last night while we were-"
"Jerk!"
I slapped my hand over his mouth.
"I don't need you to blab and tell everyone!"
Havoc coughed, trying to hide his smile.
Savior raised a brow and shook his head. "Thief didn't have to tell us anything, Arlys."
There was something in his words that were unsettling.
I looked at him, narrowing my eyes. "What does that mean?"
Savior clamped his lips together and I turned to look at Logan. "What. Does. He. Mean?"
Logan leaned in and gave me a little peck of a kiss before he pulled back slightly and smiled like the cat that had eaten a whole nest of canaries.
"He means that about the..." His eyes looked up at the ceiling and then looked back down into her eyes with a smug look on his face, "third time we. .. Well, you got a little loud."
"A little?"
I turned to look at Savior, glaring at him. "I have scissors." He only smiled more. "And razors, Savior... lots and lots of razors!"
Havoc clapped a hand down on his shoulder and moved him across the shop and out of my reach.
"The point is that 'everyone' that stayed in the clubhouse that night knows that we-"
"Got reacquainted." I said pointedly. "We became reacquainted!"
"Whatever you say, honey."
"Well," I had an idea, and I was about to put his words to the test, "you can do me a favor now."
I grabbed his wrist and headed for the chair by the front window. I stopped just shy of it and pointed at the chair. "Sit."
Savior and Havoc didn't joke... too much.
Although one of them might have barked.
"I'm going to cut your hair."
Logan looked up at me, smiling.
Not the reaction I was expecting. I thought he'd resist a little.
Instead, he sat back in the chair, propped his boots up onto the railing on the bottom of the chair, and relaxed into the barber chair.
"Go ahead, baby." He grinned at me as I shook out the smock covering and put it over his clothes and then I took a pre-cut length of neck tape.
That's when he leaned away from me. "Do you have to put that around my neck?"
I patted him on his shoulder like a little kid. "Do you want to have an itchy neck from the hairs I cut?"
"Let him itch!"
I almost burst out laughing when Logan leaned forward in the chair to glare at his friend, Havoc.
I used the hand I had on his shoulder and pushed him back in the chair.
Then I reached for the spray bottle to wet down his hair and when I turned to look at Logan, he looked like he was about to revolt.
"What's that?"
I held it up and smiled at him, but not the happy kind of smile. It was the 'don't test me' kind of smile.
And I saw the reaction in Logan's expression.
He was wary.
Good.
"You know what they do when cats are acting up?"
I spritzed some water into the air and someone behind me burst out laughing. "You're going to spray him if he misbehaves?"
I nodded and then I shook my head.
"I'm going to wet down your hair so I can cut it. Now be a good boy and sit still."
The look I got from Logan was a little scary, but there was a tiny, little glint in his eyes that said I might just enjoy his kind of scary.
"Okay," I looked at him and gave him a wink, "Let's clean you up."
I covered his face with one hand and spritzed his hair with water, loving the way that the sun made the little droplets of water shine like diamonds.
This was going to be fun.